


Red Hood and the Toddler

by Abbyromana



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Fluff, Gen, Redemption, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-03-01 02:18:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13284846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abbyromana/pseuds/Abbyromana
Summary: When called home on Batman Inc. business, Jason never expected this sort of assignment.





	Red Hood and the Toddler

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure if I will continue this, but I couldn't let this plot bunny escape me. :)

Jason was irate to say the least. “Tell me again, why I’m fucking stuck here, while you and the Demon Spawn are taking on Two-Face and his goons?” 

He glared at the Gotham City map laid out on the main Batcomputer screen. He could see the Batmobile speeding across the streets of Gotham towards Dixon Docks.

“Because the Red Hood is still a wanted criminal,” Dick told him over the communication channel. The roar of the Batmobile engine filled the pause.

“And you’re not needed, Todd,” added the sarcastic voice of Damian over the channel.

Crossing his arms, a thousand nasty retorts flashed through his mind. He would have gladly shared them with the kid. He had done so in the past. For now, he held his tongue. “I didn’t come back to Gotham to play babysitter!” Jason grumbled. “If I’d known that, I’d have never replied to your communication. For fucks sake, I thought being a part of Batman Incorporated would mean taking down criminals, not doing diaper duty.”

“And,” Dick continued, seeming to pretend to ignore Jason’s rant, “Tim and the rest of the JLA are still tracking down Hush and his magical accomplice. With Alfred and Cassandra still not back from Hong Kong with the alternative solution to our ‘little problem’, someone needs to look after Bruce.” There was a smirk to his next words. “Besides, he likes you.”

A cheerful gurgle from behind Jason echoed Dick’s comment.

Turning sharply, his gaze snapped to the make-shift playpen set up a few feet away. Black curls framed a pair of bright blue eyes. Over the top of the wooden gate, those big eyes focused solely on Jason. Shaking a plush, gray elephant in the air, the toddler struggled to say, “Ja... Ja.”

Jason wrinkled his nose as he drew in a long breath. “Can’t figure out why, Dickie.” He sighed, turning to face the Batcomputer again. “You’re his favorite.”

“Tt,” countered Damian. “I beg to differ, Todd.”

A breath of a chuckle from Dick could be heard over the communication channel. “You don’t give yourself enough credit, Little Wing.”

A muffled exchange occurred between Dick and Damian. Damian appeared to be arguing his point as Dick tried to reassure the youngest Robin. Jason only half listened.

Jason’s gaze drifted back towards the toddler. The two-foot tall toddler was currently attempting to scale the wooden gate. His hands grasped the top of the wood paneling, but he wasn't managing to lift his leg high enough to climb it. There was a deep frown on his lips.

Just then, Dick's voice broke over the channel. "... the point is, Jason, you don't know how much you mean to Bruce, no matter how old he is.”

Jason could hear Damian giving another rude retort, but he couldn’t hear him. The toddler gave an ear-shattering wail. Jason cringed but approached.

Looking down at the tear-stained face, he loudly asked, “What? What is it now?”

There was a beat of a moment where the toddler went silent. He just stared blankly at Jason with moist eyes. It was as if the toddler was considering Jason's questions. Finally, sniffling, the toddler raised both of his tiny, stubby hands. They closed and unclosed repeatedly in the air.

Raising an eyebrow, Jason asked, "You want to be picked up?"

The toddler's lower lip quivered. Jason could hear the bubble of a new wail starting to build in the young boy’s throat. He started to hop up and down. 

With a frustrated sigh, Jason lifted the toddler from the playpen.

Those tiny hands instantly grabbed tightly on to the lapel and shoulder of his leather jacket. As he let the toddler settle in his arms, the build up for a wail seemed to be gone. Pursing his lips, Jason watched him. “You happy now?”

 The toddler's lip quivered in response.

Cocking his head to the side, he asked, "What?!"

The toddler said nothing, only sniffled. Then, Jason swore the toddler gave him a very Bruce-esque raised eyebrow. It was as if the toddler was waiting for Jason to say something or do something. Jason didn’t have a clue what.

“You can’t be hungry. Dick fed you a bottle just before he left.” Turning his attention to the toddler’s well cushioned bottom, he sniffed the air. He didn't smell anything wrong. Patting the toddler's bottom, he bobbed the little boy up and down. That earned Jason a tight squeeze on his shoulder from the toddler. “And it can’t be a new diaper, because you’re at a loss if… that’s…” His words died off when he realized the toddler was making a happy babbling noise.

Looking back at the young boy’s face, he was greeted with a slightly new expression. The bright blue eyes were still moist, but they looked wide and full of joy. A broad smile covered the round face, too.  

“What?” Jason asked slowly. “Why are you looking at…?”

His question was interrupted by a fit of giggles from the toddler. “Ja… Ja!” His little arms wrapped around Jason’s neck. “Ha ug! Ha ug!”

A flutter of warmth bloomed in Jason’s chest. Despite his frustration of this whole situation, the corners of his mouth curved upward. Adjusting his hold on the toddler, Jason hugged him back. In his mind, his thirteen-year-old self had been craving this. Jason missed hugs, baseball games, and sick days on the couch watching movies with Bruce.

Since rejoining the Batfamily, Jason hadn’t been completely sure what to expect. Bruce had set ground rules, but other than that, a lot of it was left open. At the very least, Jason had hoped to stop being among the top ten most wanted of the Justice League and the Titans. It was hard enough to take down scum when you weren’t watching your six for super powered heroes. Outside of crime fighting, Jason had kind of hoped to connect with some of his family and former friends and allies. There were a lot of new faces he barely knew and others who had changed a lot from his Robin days. Yet, there were a few people he’d still rather have at least a shotgun length away. Otherwise, he feared waking to the Demon Spawn hanging over his bed again. However, he hadn’t ever pictured babysitting duty of a de-aged Bruce. This couldn’t be further from his skill set and comfort zone.

Jason would much rather be hunting down Hush, making up for his stupid mistake from five years ago. He still hadn’t told Bruce about the deal he made with Hush. Neither had Jason told him that he’d been the one to tell Hush that Bruce was Batman.

Softly against the toddler’s warm forehead, Jason whispered, “I’ll make it all up to you. I know it won’t be easy… for either of us, particularly me with this no kill rule, but… somehow, I promise I will.”

A blinding flash of light pulled him out of his musings. His gaze snapped coldly in the direction of the flash. Seated in her wheelchair was a grinning Barbara Gordon with a cellphone in hand. “Awww, now that’s so sweet. And here, I thought the picture of you helping to bathe him would be my favorite.”

Jason scowled. “What? How did you…?”

“Dick texted me the photo earlier today,” Barbara told him, hitting a few buttons on her phone. “Soap suds on the nose, very intimidating, Red Hood.”

“Why don’t you fu….?”

Barbara cut him off with a shake of her finger. "Huh uh! Be nice, Boy Wonder." She slowly rolled towards him and the toddler. "Or I won’t offer to babysit, so you can leave the nest.”

Instantly, Jason changed his expression. “Oh! Well… I was just going to say …let me help you.” He beamed a huge grin.

Barbara just rolled her eyes as she stopped in front of Jason. “Uh huh. Learn that one from Dick?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about, Red,” Jason said with his best innocent expression.

Barbara held her arms out. "Come here, Little Batman. Let’s get you away from that big, red meany." Her voice was warm and friendly. Still, Jason noticed a panicked look on the toddler's face.

The toddler looked at Barbara, and then, at Jason. Vigorously, he shook his head. "No!" Jason noticed the young boy's grip on his jacket tightened.

Frowning, Jason attempted to loosen the toddler's grip. He got the one hand off his jacket's lapel, before leaning forward to pass the toddler over to Barbara. He started to work on the other hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay," Barbara said gently. She had one hand on the small of the toddler’s back and the other one under his bottom. "Jason's got to go help..."

Before Barbara could even finish speaking, the toddler gave a high-pitched shriek and began to wail very loudly. "No!!!!!! Ja no go! No go!!!!"

Jason couldn't help how his heart skipped more than a few beats. He didn't even think about it. He just leaned back, pulling the toddler out of Barbara’s grasp. Immediately, the toddler buried his face into Jason's neck still wailing loudly into his ear. He cringed, before looking worriedly at Barbara.

Barbara was biting her lip as she gave a shrug. "Looks like Dick was right, he really doesn't want to let you go."

As if to confirm her words, the toddler in a high-pitched voice screamed, “No go!”

“Don’t be like that, Bruce,” Jason said to him, rubbing his back. He had seen Dick do it earlier when the toddler woke up from a nap crying. “I can’t…”

“No! No go!” The toddler had stopped crying, but was still whimpering into Jason’s neck.

"Oh, come on! This is ridiculous!" Jason told her. "He was fine before I arrived this morning. Even afterwards, he was fine being passed around among us, even the Demon Spawn."

Barbara was thoughtfully touching her chin. "Maybe... hmmm..." Turning her wheelchair around, she rolled up to the Batcomputer. "Maybe its psychological." Her fingers were working away on the Batcomputer. The map of Gotham vanished from the main screen to a small screen on the side. "Despite being physically younger, Bruce's memories are still present... at least in some form. I'll admit Zatanna and Constantine both said this spell might not have been a complete age reversal. Rather, Bruce might still be able to recall later aspects of his life." 

A moment later, a series of readouts appeared on the main screen of the Batcomputer. Jason saw basic information, such as height, weight, and a physical description of the toddler. But, Barbara was scrolling down past that information. She was going through the records on the toddler's blood chemistry as well as CT and MRI scans.

“Perhaps, he’s remembering you leaving him,” Barbara suggested, glancing over her shoulder. “I mean this afternoon we were just up in the Manor. That might be a place of normalcy to little Bruce. That’s where his parents used to be, where Alfred raised him, and where you and the others live. Now, you’re down here with him, and your leaving him. Maybe his infantile mind is connecting the dots towards… well…”

“You mean me running off and dying,” Jason finished for her.

Turning around, Barbara wore a very somber expression. “Yeah. It could be that simple.”

Jason blew out a breath. Pressing his lips together, he looked pointedly at the cowering toddler. “Come on, Bruce. You have to know this is…”

“No!” The Toddler pulled away from Jason’s neck. He pushed himself up a bit, so they came face to face. The toddler’s eyes narrowed. He pushed out his lower lip and fixed Jason with a serious expression. “No go, Ja.”

Jason was not going to be intimidate by a toddler. He didn’t care if he was Batman normally. He didn’t care if his thirteen-year-old self trembled slightly at the familiar, defiant tone, despite it coming from the mouth of a two-year-old boy.

“Bruce…” He said the name in his own warning tone. Being the adult of this relationship now, he was putting his foot down. He refused to be bossed around.

As his lips parted to say more, the toddler’s tiny hands gripped his face. There was a hand on either of his cheeks. Then, the toddler’s eyes widened again. A small pout formed on his lips. “Pe no go.”

Jason released a long breath.

“I think you’re not going to win this, Jason,” Barbara pointed out. “You’re stuck on babysitting duty… at least until Dick gets back.”

“Great,” he grumbled.

 


End file.
